Post by gruntal on May 15, 2013 17:57:54 GMT

An interesting article by Daniel Pipes on Fox News got me thinking if for no other reason this article presented ideas I had not heard before expressed so eloquently. You can do an InterNet search on Daniel Pipes Middle East and find the article Islam vs. Islamism. One of my pet peeves about human beings is their propensity to use words and terms in obviously suggestive manners while blithely feigning nuetrality. Politics and religion are notoriously devisive and clearly defined terms allow us to differentiate between facts, beliefs, and arguments.

Islam is a belief or religion and Islamism is a social political economic system like Communism and Fascism and Socialism. This is not denigrating as "isms" tend to have one thing in common: everybody has to buy into it for their own good rather they want to or not. True freedom and pluralism have their own restraints: you can't have the society homogenious and all to your own liking when the others have the option of doing it their way too so a certain amount of anarchy becomes an "ism" also.

I have no idea if there is something wrong with Islamic religions that lead to Islamism; I certainly am used to living in Judeo-Christian societies that were not half bad. Well the other half was rotten which is why I never wanted a Christian to have control over my life. Or anybody if I can help it. As I learn about Islam and observe Moslems I now more then ever try to be tolerant while reserving one steadfast principle: no matter how sound the religion is I don't accept many of the things that go along with it as they effect laws and attitudes. Nor should I need to to learn things spiritual.